A post-growth recovery?—All-Party Group letter to the UK Chancellor

Through the APPG on Limits to Growth, MPs across the political spectrum have written to the UK Chancellor, urging him to prioritise wellbeing over GDP growth statistics if his plans to rebuild the economy after #Covid19 are to lead to a green recovery.
London, 7 July 2020

Part of  CUSP’s policy engagement is to provide the secretariat for the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Limits to Growth.  On 7 July, the group of MPs across the political spectrum has written to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, urging him to prioritise wellbeing if his plans to rebuild the economy after Covid are to lead to a green recovery.

Green jobs and funding for traineeships expected to be announced by the Chancellor on 8 July are welcome, but a truly green recovery means pivoting to an economy where the measures of success are public health, personal and social wellbeing and the health of the natural environment rather than GDP growth statistics.

The public letter notes that the single-minded pursuit of growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) does not always coincide with the best interests of society, and the wellbeing of current and future generations should be the legitimate goal of government and economic policy in particular. 

The group makes a number of recommendations, including

• the adoption of new measures of societal wellbeing to replace GDP as a measure of social progress;
• a commitment to join the Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo) partnership;
• the full integration of wellbeing measures into central and local government decision-making processes, and in particular into the Treasury Green Book; and
• the urgent development of a precautionary ‘post growth’ strategy for the UK.

Caroline Lucas MP, chair the APPG on Limits to Growth group, said:  

“The pursuit of infinite economic growth on a planet of finite resources is the road to social and ecological ruin. Yet it’s still how most governments run their economies. 

“That has to change. We need a new approach that puts the wellbeing of people and the environment at the heart of government policy-making and this is the moment to do it, by introducing an economic model which prioritises what matters most to people: public health, community resilience, decent housing and a healthy, restored environment.”

The signatories to the letter are Caroline Lucas MP (Green), Clive Lewis MP (Labour), Sir Peter Bottomley MP (Conservatives), Baroness Claire Tyler (Lib Dem), Deidre Brock MP (SNP), Liz Saville Roberts MP (Plaid Cymru) and Claire Hanna MP (SDLP).

Letter